Mayor: Construction norm violations adding to city’s pollution

Kolkata: Due to deteriorating air quality with the onset of winter, the Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Firhad Hakim expressed concerns, attributing it to rising levels of vehicular pollution and flouting of construction norms.

Several areas in the city during winter, as every year, keep fluctuating between moderate to poor air quality.

The primary pollutant affecting the city’s air quality is fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which is small enough to penetrate lungs and bloodstream, according to experts.

The state pollution control board has reportedly warned that exposure to such high levels of this pollutant can cause respiratory and cardiovascular complications.

The mayor told the Press that the increasing level of pollution is mainly due to the vehicular emissions in the city. However, he added that flouting norms during construction of buildings is also contributing to this. He said that the civic body has already laid down norms which require the builders to cover the under-construction structures. This is not being followed.

The mayor said KMC teams will be visiting construction sites to warn the builders to follow rules.

Further, Hakim said that the civic body is taking several measures such as using mist canons and using water sprinklers to bring down dust pollution.

Earlier this year, the mayor had said that due to efforts of the civic body Kolkata now features in the third position in the list of cities in India that have managed to significantly reduce air pollution.

This feat could be achieved with the help of Professor Abhijit Chatterjee of the Bose Institute who suggested several measures such as taking stringent and immediate action for effective solid waste management, phasing out old polluting vehicles, increasing the number of electric vehicles and surveillance over polluting industries in Kolkata. The civic body has been able to meet its 75 per cent target in reducing air pollution, Hakim stated.